En route

We had a lovely visit to Geelong.  We went to visit my friend Irene and her venerable dog Maggie.  Irene's friend Gilly was there too. I've known Gilly for a long time, but haven't seen her for, it must be over 20 or 25 years.  It was good to catch up with her.  It was good to catch up with Irene, too, though we have seen her more recently than that - most recently at Chris and John's place when we went for lunch. We dined on vegetables from the garden, vegetables not from the garden, meaty stuffing and apricot tart. It was all very delicious and convivial.  Thank you to Irene and to Maggie for their hospitality.

After a hearty breakfast (I had never thought to have silver beet/chard with my eggs and bacon - I will do in the future), we returned to East Melbourne where we gathered up Ian and then we went New Year's Eve Feast shopping. We went to Port Melbourne to a delightful deli/grocers  for most of our provisions and to Chadstone for supplies of meat. Then we headed to Warragul. Not a bad run. The roads were relatively clear, it being what someone on the radio this week called the Inter Fest, when many people are on holiday and the pace of life slows.

We went with Matt to close up part of  his school after the builders had finished for the weekend.  While we were there we had a look around.  It's a lovely school.  Much bigger than I had expected.  On the way back we called in to look at the house they have recently bought.  It needs renovating but it has lots of potential.  Belinda's mother is going to live there when it's finished.

Then Lindsey turned up with Sam and an evening of eating delicious food, prepared by Ian, and drinking delicious wine ensued.  I didn't stay up to see in the New Year.  Every day is the start of a new year for somebody!  And anyway, these days the mornings seem to me to be the time of new beginnings, not midnight. I left them watching a film about some bloke growing potatoes on Mars and went to bed in the quite remarkably warm bungalow.

And here I am, greeting a morning which is much fresher and cooler than yesterday, poised at the start of 2016, which promises to be even more "interesting" than 2015. I wait with interest to see what it has to offer.